This invention relates to image receptor media for thermal or piezo inkjet printing wherein the media has a porous coating that contains a multivalent cationic salt.
Image graphics are omnipresent in modern life. Images and data that warn, educate, entertain, advertise, etc. are applied on a variety of interior and exterior, vertical and horizontal surfaces. Nonlimiting examples of image graphics range from advertisements on walls or sides of trucks, posters that advertise the arrival of a new movie, warning signs near the edges of stairways.
The use of thermal and piezo inkjet inks have greatly increased in recent years with accelerated development of inexpensive and efficient inkjet printers, ink delivery systems, and the like.
Thermal inkjet hardware is commercially available from a number of multinational companies, including without limitation, Hewlett-Packard Corporation of Palo Alto, Calif., USA; Encad Corporation of San Diego, Calif., USA; Xerox Corporation of Rochester, N.Y., USA; LaserMaster Corporation of Eden Prairie, Minn., USA; and Mimaki Engineering Co., Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan. The number and variety of printers changes rapidly as printer makers are constantly improving their products for consumers. Printers are made both in desk-top size and wide format size depending on the size of the finished image graphic desired. Nonlimiting examples of popular commercial scale thermal inkjet printers are Encad""s NovaJet Pro printers and H-P""s 650C, 750C, and 2500CP printers. Nonlimiting examples of popular wide format thermal inkjet printers include H-P""s DesignJet printers, where the 2500CP is preferred because it has 600xc3x97600 dots/inch (dpi) resolution with a drop size in the vicinity of about 40 picoliters.
3M markets Graphic Maker Inkjet software useful in converting digital images from the Internet, ClipArt, or Digital Camera sources into signals to thermal inkjet printers to print such image graphics.
Inkjet inks are also commercially available from a number of multinational companies, particularly 3M which markets its Series 8551; 8552; 8553; and 8554 pigment-based inkjet inks. The use of four principal colors: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (generally abbreviated xe2x80x9cCMYKxe2x80x9d) permit the formation of as many as 256 colors or more in the digital image.
Media for inkjet printers are also undergoing accelerated development. Because inkjet imaging techniques have become vastly popular in commercial and consumer applications, the ability to use a personal computer to digitally print a color image on paper or other receptor media has extended from dye-based inks to pigment-based inks. And the media must accommodate that change. Pigment-based inks provide more durable images because pigment particles are contained in a dispersion before being dispensed using a thermal inkjet print head.
Inkjet printers have come into general use for wide-format electronic printing for applications such as, engineering and architectural drawings. Because of the simplicity of operation and economy of inkjet printers, this image process holds a superior growth potential promise for the printing industry to produce wide format, image on demand, presentation quality graphics.
Therefore, the components of an inkjet system used for making graphics can be grouped into three major categories:
1 Computer, software, printer.
2 Ink.
3 Receptor medium.
The computer, software, and printer will control the size, number and placement of the ink drops and will transport the receptor medium through the printer. The ink will contain the colorant which forms the image and carrier for that colorant. The receptor medium provides the repository which accepts and holds the ink. The quality of the inkjet image is a function of the total system. However, the composition and interaction between the ink and receptor medium is most important in an inkjet system.
Image quality is what the viewing public and paying customers will want and demand to see. From the producer of the image graphic, many other obscure demands are also placed on the inkjet media/ink system from the print shop. Also, exposure to the environment can place additional demands on the media and ink (depending on the application of the graphic). Most common, durability of the image graphic is required in humid indoor or outdoor environments, especially locations capable of being soaked with rain or melting snow or ice.
Current inkjet receptor media are direct coated with a dual layer receptor medium according to the disclosure contained in U.S. Pat. No. 5,747,148 (Warner et al.) and are marketed by 3M under the brands 3M(trademark) Scotchcal(trademark) Opaque Imaging Media 3657-10 and 3M(trademark) Scotchcal(trademark) Translucent Imaging Media 3637-20. Other products marketed by 3M include Nos. 8522CP and 8544CP Imaging Media, the former having a coating on the imaging surface for controlling dot gain and the latter having a pigment management system and a fluid management system in pores of the membrane. With the rapid rise in usage of inkjet printing systems to create wide format graphics having digitally-produced images thereon, more and better inkjet receptor media are needed, especially those which rise to the level of precision and lighting requirements that are used for photographically-created image graphics.
These media have coatings provided by water-borne systems, either for entirely water-soluble or water-dispersible ingredients. Water-soluble ingredients are susceptible to loss of durability of the image graphic when encountering humid or wet environments. Most often, the image is created by printing of a water-based ink needs to be fixed to prevent ink migration and loss of precision of the image graphic. Water-dispersible ingredients are particularly difficult to handle during manufacturing to provide reproducible image receptive layers on substrates; working with emulsion-based delivery of coatings introduces a number of additional manufacturing factors that can affect efficiency and productivity.
An image receptor medium, comprising a non-porous base medium having on one major surface an imaging layer. The imaging layer comprises a) water insoluble binder, b) water insoluble and organic-solvent insoluble particles having a mean particle size of about 1 xcexcm to 25 xcexcm, and c) organic-solvent soluble multivalent cationic salt. The imaging layer comprises a plurality of pores capable of imbibing a liquid ink.
The present invention provides a way to create a very ink receptive coating on a non-porous medium. Thus, any non-porous medium can be provided with a porous image receptive layer that provides excellent ink imbibing properties, in combination with excellent rapid ink fixing properties. Because the binder is insoluble in water, the medium is highly water and humidity resistant.
This invention has particular utility for the production of image graphics using wide format inkjet printers and pigment-based ink. This invention solves the problem of obtaining precise digitally-produced image graphics with ink migration inhibitors on inkjet receptor media to endure water-laden environments that would otherwise cause the image graphic to lose precision.
With such precise, durable image graphics capable of being produced with inkjet receptor media of the present invention, one skilled in the art can replace photographically-created image graphics with digitally-created image graphics using inkjet inks. In other words, image graphics of the present invention have the precision and lighting requirements essentially consistent with image graphics prepared from photographic techniques. But digitally-created image graphics have the huge advantage of being electronically distributable over telecommunications equipment. Thus, one skilled in the art can distribute an image to many physically remote locations using secure data transmission lines or the Internet for later inkjet printing at such remote locations. The means of communication coupled with the media capable of printing durable, precise image graphics changes the way companies or organizations warn, educate, entertain or advertise in brilliant multicolor image graphics.
Moreover, media of the present invention can be illuminated from their viewing side, a reflective lighting property, or can be illuminated from its non-viewing side, a transmissive lighting property. Thus, the brilliant multicolor image graphics are capable of being viewed in natural or artificial light without loss of its color qualities regardless of the location of the light source.
The base medium is a non-porous film suitable for either or both backlit (transmissive) and opaque (reflective) viewing applications. Preferably, the base medium is particularly suitable for rigid xe2x80x9cdrop-inxe2x80x9d type backlit signage materials for lightboxes. Therefore, another aspect of the invention is a combination of translucent sheets or transparent sheets and an inkjet receptor medium as above, which is also translucent, thereby producing a xe2x80x9cdrop-inxe2x80x9d backlit image graphic. When coated onto clear polyester film, the dried coating layer can act both as a diffuser with good light transmission and also act as the imaging layer described above.
After printing an image using an ink jet printer with either dye or pigment-based inks, the inkjet receptor medium of the present invention may give a translucent graphic viewable on a lightbox with both the light on and off.
Another aspect of the present invention is a method of making the inkjet receptor medium identified above, where a solvent-based coating formulation as described below is applied to the non-porous base medium on one major surface thereon, and then the solvent is evaporated to form an imaging layer.
Yet another aspect of the present invention is an inkjet receptor medium that has an imaging layer and also an image printed thereon, whereby the image after drying is fixed by hot-rolling. This finished article therefore comprises in order, a base film (such as a polyester), a hot-melt adhesive layer, and a porous coating which acts as an ink jet receptive layer giving good images.
In another embodiment, the article is printed, allowed to dry, and hot-roll laminated with a hot-melt adhesive overlaminate, and the image is thereby encapsulated between the two layers of the hot-melt adhesive. The porous coating transparentizes somewhat showing the ingress of the hot-melt material into the pores, and so the image is now protected from direct exposure to the elements such as water and direct exposure to air. After encapsulation, the rub resistance and strength of the coating improves because the layer is now more of a continuous film and not weakened by the frequent pores which have been at least partially filled by the hot-melt material.
An advantage of the invention is the solvent-based coating formulation minimizes manufacturing complexities of delivering a coating layer to a base medium.
Other features and advantages will be explained in relation to the following embodiments of the invention.
Non-Porous Base Medium
The base medium useful for the present invention can be any polymeric material that can be uniformly coated by a solvent-based coating formulation to generate an inkjet receptor medium of the present invention. The base medium can be transparent, clear, translucent, colored, non-colored, or opaque, or a combination thereof, as required by those creating the image graphic.
The base medium preferably has a thickness ranging from about 25 microns to about 750 microns and more preferably from about 50 microns to about 250 microns.
The base medium can be rigid, flexible, elastic, or otherwise, again as required by those creating the image graphic.
Nonlimiting examples of polymers useful in the creation of the base medium include polyolefins, polyurethanes, polyesters, acrylics, polycarbonates, polyvinyl chlorides and other vinyl polymers and copolymers, polystyrenes. Presently preferred is a polyester film in the range of thickness from about 110 to about 180 xcexcm thickness due to low cost and handling.
The size of the base medium is only limited by the capacity of the printer through which the medium can pass for printing. Printers directed to personal or business usage are usually small-format, i.e., less than about 56 cm printing width, whereas printers directed to commercial or industrial usage are usually large-format, i.e., greater than that printing width of 56 cm. As the digital revolution in image graphics continues to occur, many more uses of inkjet printers will be found, especially for those industries that distribute an image to many locations before printing it.
Imaging Layer
Solvent-soluble Multivalent Cationic Salts
Solvent-soluble multivalent cationic salts used in the present invention provide a critical element for precise, durable image graphics: inhibition of ink migration on an imaging layer in the presence of water, where the imaging layer is water-insoluble. These cationic salts interact with the pigment particles of the ink to fix such pigment particles within the porous imaging layer.
Nonlimiting examples of solvent-soluble multivalent cationic salts include those salts composed of cations selected from the group consisting of zinc, aluminum, calcium, magnesium, chromium, and manganese and anions selected from the group consisting of chloride, bromide, iodide, and nitrate.
Preferred examples of such salts include anhydrous zinc bromide, anhydrous calcium bromide, and anhydrous calcium chloride.
The amount of salts that can be used in the coating solution for coating the base medium range from about 0.1% to about 10% and preferably from about 0.75% to about 3% weight percent of the solids of the coating formulation.
Solvent
Organic solvents used in the present invention are capable of solvating the solvent-soluble multivalent cationic salts and other ingredients of the coating formulation preferably alone, or in a mixtures with another organic solvent. Nonlimiting examples of such organic solvents include ketones such as methyl ethyl ketone, acetone, isobutyl ketone, cyclohexanone and methyl isobutyl ketone; hydrocarbons such as cyclohexane, heptane, toluene, and xylenes; alcohols such as ethanol, butanol, isopropanol, pentanol; mineral oils; esters such as ethyl acetate, and butyl acetate; PM acetate; carbitol acetate; and glycol alkyl ethers and combinations thereof. Preferred organic solvents for the present invention have limited adverse environmental effects. Particularly preferred organic solvents have a boiling point between about 80xc2x0 C. to about 160xc2x0 C.
Binder
Preferred binders for retaining the solvent-soluble multivalent cationic salts in the imaging layer have low cost, easy manufacturing and processing features, and can form tough layers on base media described above, with or without the use of a priming layer between the imaging layer and the base medium. These are water-insoluble, and binders should be soluble in the solvent used for the coating formulation to assure even delivery of the coating to the base medium.
Nonlimiting examples of binders include acrylic acid copolymers, poly(meth)acrylates, polyvinyl acetals (such as polyvinyl butyra and polyvinyl formal) vinyl acetate copolymers, polyurethanes, vinyl chloride polymers and copolymers such as VYNS (a copolymer of vinyl chloride and vinyl acetate from Union Carbide of Danbury, Conn., USA), VAGH (a terpolymer of vinyl chloride, vinyl acetate and vinyl alcohol from Union Carbide of Danbury, Conn., USA) and the like known to those skilled in the art for producing high quality, low cost layers in laminate constructions. These binders are readily commercially available as resins from large and small manufacturers. Particularly preferred as binders for the present invention include Paraloid B82 brand methyl methyacrylate polymer from Rohm and Haas of Philadelphia, Pa., USA; and VYHH (a copolymer of vinyl chloride and vinyle acetate from Union Carbide of Danbury, Conn., USA).
The amount of binder that can be used in the coating solution for coating the base medium range from about 10% to about 50% and preferably from about 20% to about 40% weight percent of the total coating solids.
Particulate
The coating formulation includes particulates in an amount and size sufficient to assist in providing a porous structure in the ultimate imaging layer. Additionally, the particles may provide surface variation and protection of the pigment-based particles delivered in the inkjet inks for the final product. Nonlimiting examples of particulates include those disclosed in the prior art such as starch, silica, zeolites, clay articles, insoluble silicates such as calcium silicate, alumina, talc, titanium dioxide and the like. Because the coating formulation is solvent-based, the particulates need to be insoluble in the solvents used in the coating formulations. Moreover, it has been found in this invention that a crosslinked polyvinylpyrrolidone particle is particularly useful for providing a good image when printed with both pigment or dye-based aqueous ink jet inks. It is also an advantage that a receptor medium such as described, while primarily of use in receiving pigment-based ink jets to give a water-fast fade-resistant image, can also optionally be used to print with dye-based inks. Such crosslinked polyvinylpyrrolidone particles are commercially available from a number of sources in a number of particle size distributions, including BASF of Wyandotte, Mich., USA under the Luvicross(copyright) M brand.
Mean particle size for the particulates can range from about 1 xcexcm to about 25 xcexcm and preferably from about 4 xcexcm to about 15 xcexcm.
When a crosslinked polyvinylpyrrolidone particulate is used with a binder and a solvent-soluble multivalent cationic salt in the coating formulation, the amount of particulate to be used is determined by its weight/weight ratio with the binder. The particulate:binder W/W (weight/weight) ratio can range from about 1:1 to about 9:1 and preferably from about 1.7:1 to about 2.0:1 and most preferably about 1.8:1. Other particulates may require a different W/W ratio with the binder because it is really the V/V (volume/volume) ratio that concerns the imaging layer after the solvent has evaporated for the binder to hold the particulates in place adequately.
Because the base medium is a solid film without any discernable porosity, the present imaging layer comprising particulates with the binder and the solvent-soluble multivalent cationic salts in the coating formulation inherently provides a porosity for the imaging layer. While not being bound by theory, it is believed that a porous coating layer is formed from the evaporation of solvent from the coating formulation, leaving a disorganized collection of particulates bound by the binder within which the solvent-soluble multivalent cationic salts reside. The pores are able to quickly imbibe the ink providing a quick drying medium. This porous structure may be facilitated by the use of particulates that are irregular in shape (e.g. non-spherical). The imaging layer is not unlike the popular confection of xe2x80x9cpeanut brittlexe2x80x9d with the binder holding together the particulate xe2x80x9cpeanutsxe2x80x9d and enormous porosity in the binder xe2x80x9cbrittlexe2x80x9d formed by solvent evaporation.
Optional Priming Layer
Depending on the type of base medium, to provide an excellent surface for the imaging layer, a priming layer can be provided between the base medium and the imaging layer delivered by the solvent-based system. Nonlimiting examples of such priming layers include poly(vinylidene chloride) or solvent-adhesion primers such as found on Mitsubishi Diafoil 4507 brand polyester (available from Mitsubishi Polyester Film, 2001 Hood Road, P.O. Box 1400, Greer, S.C. 29652).
Alternatively or in addition to priming the base medium, surface alteration treatments can be used to enhance adhesion to the base film such as corona treatment, surface ablation, surface abrasion, and the like known to those skilled in the art.
Optional Adhesive Layer and Optional Release Liner
The receptor medium optionally has an adhesive layer on the opposite major surface of the base medium that is optionally but preferably protected by a release liner. After imaging, the image receptor medium can be adhered to a horizontal or vertical, interior or exterior surface to warn, educate, entertain, advertise, etc.
The choice of adhesive and release liner depends on usage desired for the image graphic.
Pressure sensitive adhesives can be any conventional pressure sensitive adhesive that adheres to both membrane and to the surface of the item upon which the inkjet receptor medium having the permanent, precise image is destined to be placed. Pressure sensitive adhesives are generally described in Satas, Ed., Handbook of Pressure Sensitive Adhesives 2nd Ed. (Von Nostrand Reinhold 1989), the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. Pressure sensitive adhesives are commercially available from a number of sources. Particularly preferred are acrylate pressure sensitive adhesives commercially available from Minnesota Mining and and Manufacturing Company of St. Paul, Minn. and generally described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,141,790, 4,605,592, 5,045,386, and 5,229,207 and EPO Patent Publication EP 0 570 515 B1 (Steelman et al.). Another suitable adhesive is disclosed in copending, coassigned, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/775,844, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,197,397, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.
Release liners are also well known and commercially available from a number of sources. Nonlimiting examples of release liners include silicone coated kraft paper, silicone coated polyethylene coated paper, silicone coated or non-coated polymeric materials such as polyethylene or polypropylene, as well as the aforementioned base materials coated with polymeric release agents such as silicone urea, urethanes, and long chain alkyl acrylates, such as defined in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,957,724; 4,567,073; 4,313,988; 3,997,702; 4,614,667; 5,202,190; and 5,290,615; the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein and those liners commercially available as Polyslik brand liners from Rexam Release of Oakbrook, Ill., USA and EXHERE brand liners from P.H. Glatfelter Company of Spring Grove, Pa., USA.
Alternatively, one can provide mechanical fasteners on the opposing surface as disclosed in copending, coassigned, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/930,957, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.
When used in a xe2x80x9cdrop-inxe2x80x9d backlit condition, the inkjet receptor medium has no adhesive or mechanical fasteners on the opposing major surface of the medium, although adhesives and fasteners can be limited to perimeter regions of the medium to secure the imaged medium to supporting rigid sheets. The translucent coating applied to a transparent or translucent receptor medium can also be used in second surface applications, for example by affixing the imaged graphic on the inside of a transparent viewing surface such as a window or the plastic front of a lightbox, vending machine etc. using a transparent double-sided sheet adhesive such as 8560 application adhesive (available from 3M Commercial Graphics Division, 3M Center, Maplewood, Minn. 55144-1000).
Optional Additives
Optional additives to the imaging layer could include coparticulates such as silica or titanium dioxide to increase optical opacity. Such coparticulates may optionally be less than 1 xcexcm, and preferably between about 10 and about 100 nanometers in size. Also optionally added are UV and/or heat stabilizers such as hindered amine light stabilizers (HALS), UV absorbers, antioxidants and heat-stabilizers. Such additives are well known in the art and are available from companies such as Ciba Geigy Additives (7 Skyline Drive, Hawthorne, N.Y. 10532-2188), Cytec Industries Inc. (P.O. Box 426, Westmont, Ill. 60559-0426), Sandoz (4000 Monroe Road, Charlotte, N.C. 28205) or BASF (BASF Aktiengesellschaft Farbmittel und ProzeBchemikalien, 67056 Ludwigshafen, Germany). Other additives could include cobinders, plasticizers for the binders present, and surfactants.
Preparation of the Coating Formulation and Delivery to the Base Medium
The coating formulation is solvent-based and uncomplicated to prepare because the various ingredients except the particulate are preferably soluble in the solvent chosen. For purposes of the present invention, a xe2x80x9csolvent based coating formulationxe2x80x9d is a formulation wherein the majority of the materials present in the formulation that are liquid at room temperature are organic materials. Such formulations may additionally comprise water in smaller proportions. Preferably, the solvent based coating formulation comprises less than 30% water, more preferably less than 20% water, and most preferably less than 10% water. The coating formulation should be thoroughly mixed and the resulting dispersion screened to assure an appropriate size of particulate for the wet coating weight desired for the formation of the imaging layer. The coating formulation is preferably shelf stable, so that it does not form a non-reversible agglomeration during the expected duration between preparation of the coating formulation and application to an intended non-porous base medium.
The coating formulation can be applied in a thickness to the base medium depending on the amount of ink likely to be printed on the inkjet receptor medium. Preferably, the solvent based coating formulation has a wet coating thickness from about 50 xcexcm to about 500 xcexcm, and preferably from about 152 xcexcm (6 mils) to about 200 xcexcm (8 mils) when the solution is approximately 32.5% solids (weight solids to weight of solution) and the particulate is Luvicross M and the binder is Paraloid B82 and the weight ratio of particulate to the binder is 1.8.
The imaging layer preferably has a dry coating weight ranging from about 20 g/m2 to about 80 g/m2 and preferably from about 25 g/m2 to about 60 g/m2.
Preferably, the void volume of the pores is 20% to 80% of the dried imaging layer volume. More preferably, the void volume of the pores is 30% to 60% of the dried imaging layer volume. Void volume is evaluated by any appropriate means in the art, such as imbibing the image layer with a liquid material to determine the volume available for such liquid, estimation using photomicrographs or other visual techniques, or calculation by determining overall volume and subtracting actual image layer volume by density determination. An Evaluation technique is mercury pore symmetry.
Optional Encapsulation of Image Graphics
While the image graphic created by pigment particles inhibited from migration alone can avoid the use of clear coats or overlaminates yet retain durable, precise image graphics, an optional additional step in the formation of the final image graphic is desired. This step could also protect images made by printing with dye-based inks. When the particulates are present in the imaging layer and the solvent has evaporated, an inherent, porosity has been formed. The image can be fixed through the use of heat and pressure in the location where it was printed when an adjacent hot-melt layer is present or if the particulates were to melt into the binder. Thus, the solvent-soluble multivalent cationic salts provide a rapid ink fixing, whereas this optional hot melt processing step provides an additional and highly durable ink fixing.
The coating formulation gives fine quality ink jet images when printed on an HP Designjet 2500CP or HP Designjet 3500CP printer. When coated onto a clear polyester film as the base medium, the imaging layer produces good graphics (when printed) for lightbox applications, both with and without a diffuser. The use of solvent-soluble multivalent cationic salts in the imaging layer of the present invention imparts a good degree of water-resistance to the images after printing with pigment-based aqueous inkjet inks from an inkjet printer, and also some improvement in the water-resistance to dye images printed by ink jet.
The coatings can also be applied to opaque base films giving good inkjet receptor media which dry very quickly to the touch. Because solvent-soluble multivalent cationic salts are used in these opaque imaging applications, both an increase in water-resistance and improvement in reflected viewing density are seen.
The coatings with ink fixing abilities therefore show utility as an imaging layer for an inkjet receptor medium that can be applied to a base film (or other sheet material, e.g. paper, synthetic paper etc.) and be printed using an inkjet printer to give a poster, banner, or other type of image graphic which is substantially water-resistant without the need for a clear coat or overlaminate, and can be put outside for at least a short period of time without the ink running in rain.
The hot-melt encapsulation articles and processes are useful because they provide a method by which a fabricator can print a graphic using ink jet printing, and then pass the material through a hot laminator (potentially with or without the use of a hot-melt overlaminate) and encapsulate the image. The resultin imaged graphic is water-fast and protected from the elements and could be put outside even under harsh conditions. The encapsulation of the coating, which involves filling the pores, makes the coating and therefore the resultant image much tougher, more water resistant, and potentially more UV-resistant.